Ross talks to members of `The Numbers' gangs in the Cape Town prison system, to try and find out what makes them so volatile and dangerous.
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00:00I've come to one of the world's most violent places to meet one of the world's most violent
00:11gangs.
00:14Kill them.
00:19How does it feel for the other person?
00:22Each moment brings me closer to an infamous brotherhood who ruled through fear and terror.
00:28Ready!
00:31This is South Africa.
00:34This is South Africa, a place of contrasts, of haves and have-nots.
00:41Down there are vineyards, private schools, golf clubs and slap bang in the middle is Polesmoor
00:48maximum security prison, built for 3,000 men and now houses nearly 7,000.
00:55Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there under the apartheid regime.
00:56But today's inmates are a little less savoury.
00:57Bank robbers, rapists, multiple people.
00:58This is South Africa, a place of contrasts, of haves and have-nots.
01:03Down there are vineyards, private schools, golf clubs and slap bang in the middle is Polesmoor
01:10maximum security prison, built for 3,000 men and now houses nearly 7,000.
01:16Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there under the apartheid regime.
01:19But today's inmates are a little less savoury.
01:22Bank robbers, rapists, multiple murderers.
01:25But Polesmoor is also home to one of South Africa's most feared and brutal fraternities,
01:31the numbers gangs.
01:46I've come to see Chris Malhas.
01:48It's taken us four months to negotiate access to the prison that holds them.
01:52And after a 6,000 mile journey, I'm at the point of no return.
01:56I'm wondering just what I've got myself into.
01:59My guide through the labyrinth of Polesmoor is Chris Malhas, a senior warder with 29 years' service.
02:20He takes me straight to the arrival centre where hundreds of new prisoners are admitted weekly.
02:25It's an unnerving place.
02:28The frightened faces of the young prisoners tell their own story.
02:35They already know the horrific reputation of the number, and from this moment on,
02:42non-gang members are prey to robbery and sexual violence.
02:47This man is a convicted murderer and a senior member of the 28s.
02:57He's taking an interest in a new arrival.
02:59Perhaps soliciting him for potential membership of the number,
03:02or simply seeking to extort money or favours.
03:06Every prisoner faces a humiliating strip search.
03:19He's taking an interest.
03:20He's taking an interest.
03:21He's taking an interest.
03:23While the authorities know many of them will be facing the number gang for the first time,
03:28equally many would have already submitted to their brutal power.
03:32They're making them squat, yeah?
03:33Yep.
03:34While they're doing that?
03:35We're looking for those who put drugs in their anus.
03:36In their anus?
03:37Yeah.
03:38While they're squatting.
03:39Because it pushes it out, yeah?
03:40Yes.
03:41And squat.
03:42And what will they have inside their backside?
03:43They will have what you call a poke, you know?
03:44A poke, yeah.
03:45A piece of plastic.
03:46Yeah, yeah.
03:47And, you know, you have Dachau, Mandrax, any drug or substance.
03:49And that's also a way of, you know, preparing them for maybe later on to have sexual intercourse,
03:50you know?
03:51If you allow them to do this poke, now, you agree to them, you know, for later on to abuse.
03:52Being screwed.
03:53Yeah.
03:54Right.
03:55Yeah.
03:56And what will they have inside their back side?
03:57People have what you call a poke, you know?
03:58A poke, yeah.
03:59A poke, yeah.
04:00Yeah.
04:01Yeah.
04:02You know, a piece of plastic.
04:03Yeah, yeah.
04:04And you know, you have Dachau, Mandrax, any drug or substance.
04:07That's also a way of, you know, preparing them for maybe later on to have sexual intercourse,
04:12you know?
04:13If you allow them to do this poke now, you agree to them, you know, for later on to abuse.
04:20Being screwed.
04:21Yeah.
04:22As I watch prisoners arrive, I notice some are heavily tattooed.
04:27Chris informs me that they're members of the number gang, old hands returning to Pawsmore.
04:34Their amateur tattoos are carved in with razors and blackened with ink.
04:40Gangsters are marked men for life.
04:45What are these?
04:46Your rank.
04:47Yeah.
04:48Yeah.
04:49What can you give a long time?
04:50The 26s.
04:51The 26s, yeah?
04:52Okay, what is this for?
04:53What does it symbolize?
04:54The chain?
04:55Don't want to say, huh?
04:56And that means money?
04:57Money.
04:58It means money.
04:59Yeah.
05:02Thank you, man.
05:03Chris is one of Pawsmore's longest serving warders and commands huge respect here.
05:12There's very little he doesn't know about the number.
05:15These men are hardened, violent criminals.
05:16And it's solely due to his presence that they consent to be questioned.
05:25Hello, hello.
05:26I'm Ross, mate.
05:27Pleased to meet you.
05:28Are you in the 28s?
05:29Yes.
05:30How long have you been in the 28s?
05:32How long have you been in the 28s?
05:33How long have you been in the 28s?
05:34Oh, 28 years.
05:3628 years.
05:3728 years.
05:38Yes.
05:39You have the stars on your shoulders.
05:40Yes.
05:41What do they mean?
05:42What do they mean?
05:43What do they mean?
05:44Are they rank?
05:45Yes.
05:46I understand.
05:47It's an officer.
05:48You're officer?
05:49It's an officer.
05:50I digged my what?
05:52My grave.
05:53Whose grave is this?
05:54It's my grave.
05:55Didn't you dig your grave by becoming a 28?
05:59Yes.
06:00Is that what you're saying?
06:01You say, I dig my grave because I become a 28?
06:05No.
06:05Okay.
06:06You're saying I cry for?
06:08I cry for blood.
06:10So which line of the 28 you belong to?
06:12Which line?
06:13The blood line.
06:15The blood line.
06:15The blood line refers to the 28's fighting men
06:18and distinguishes them from what's known as the white line,
06:21a subservient branch of the game.
06:23Can I ask a question?
06:25What do you think of the 26?
06:28The 26?
06:30Do you don't know what I mean?
06:32No.
06:32You have no idea what I mean?
06:34Never heard of 26's.
06:36Not 27's.
06:37The number has a pseudo-military hierarchy
06:40and is governed by a code of silence,
06:42the breaking of which is punishable by death.
06:46Even with Chris's help,
06:48penetrating the world of the number
06:49is going to be a tough assignment.
06:52The guys that we've talked to,
06:53the guys with epaulets tattooed on their shoulders,
06:57obviously the generals, the captains,
06:59all the first sergeants, second sergeants,
07:02obviously their personal esteem goes up when they're here
07:05and you can understand why a lot of them want to get in here
07:08because out there, they're pretty worthless.
07:11They're nothing.
07:12I've only been in Poulsmore an hour
07:16and it's an assault on the senses.
07:18Like entering a human zoo,
07:20the smells, sights and sounds are overwhelming.
07:23And I don't mind admitting I'm frightened.
07:27I know not even the warders here are safe.
07:31Many warders have been stabbed here, haven't they?
07:33or killed.
07:35One warder had his eye cut out, didn't he?
07:37Yeah.
07:37And another guy, I think, was stabbed.
07:39Yes, I was there.
07:40You were standing there?
07:41Yeah, I was right there when Mr. Murray, you know,
07:44I think he retired this year, 2006.
07:47You know, he was stabbed five times.
07:52But how many warders are there
07:54inside the actual maximum security prison to a prisoner?
07:59What's the relationship?
08:00The relationship is one to a hundred.
08:02So there's one warder per hundred.
08:04And most of these people are murderers or violent criminals?
08:07Violent criminals, yeah, rape, murderers, you know.
08:11If I'm going to understand the number,
08:13I'm going to have to mix with some of South Africa's
08:16most dangerous men.
08:19And my next step was take me into the lion's den.
08:26The number comprised three gangs,
08:28the 26s, the 27s and the 28s.
08:33So Chris, just tell me where I am in the prison now.
08:42We're going now to the power base of the number.
08:44The power base of the number?
08:45Yes.
08:46We will go to two cells.
08:48Two cells.
08:49It's very dominant, 26 and 27.
08:52The number is a ruthless brotherhood.
08:55When gang law is broken, they execute punishment,
08:58subjecting offenders to murder, mutilation or gang rape.
09:02Visits to cells are very rare
09:06and our access to Pawsmore is almost unprecedented.
09:11Chris wants to make sure I don't screw up.
09:14When we go now to the units now, to the cells, you know,
09:19you focus, you have soft face, you know, you breathe,
09:23you know, and you make eye contact and you think.
09:26You know, you never show them there's any fear.
09:28You know, you never show them that they are on top of you.
09:32Well, if it starts going wrong, let me know.
09:35Well, I will...
09:36We'll get out of there, yeah?
09:36Yeah?
09:37Let's not stay in there too long, if you can help it.
09:38Okay, okay, sure.
09:50Hello, then, can you cut me set?
09:56Chris's advice hasn't allayed my fears.
09:59So, that's all right for me to go in, Chris?
10:02You want to just stay in his hand?
10:03Just stay in his hand.
10:05Stay in his hand.
10:06Afternoon.
10:06I spend an hour in the cell with some of the hardest men in the prison,
10:10amongst them a member of the 27, the numbers assassins.
10:17But I discover the numbers code of silence is stronger than I anticipated.
10:22One thing that's coming quite apparent to me
10:24is that you guys don't really want to talk about the number to me.
10:27Can you tell me why that is?
10:30Because we all, we took out, you see,
10:33never to reveal our secrets to anybody else,
10:35unless it's one of us.
10:37Right.
10:38Unless it's one of us.
10:39And I'm not one of you.
10:40Yes.
10:41Can I ask you one question?
10:43One more question.
10:44What would happen if anybody did?
10:47It's punishments.
10:51I won't go into detail with it.
10:53Sure.
10:53I can only imagine what the number was capable of.
11:00Four?
11:03All right, guys.
11:06What can I say?
11:08There we are.
11:09We talk to people,
11:11no one would talk about the number,
11:13but then there's people showing me
11:14it's the first definite 27 we met,
11:17and he looks like a 12-year-old child.
11:21So, Chris, tell me where I am now.
11:31Where am I?
11:32Yeah, you better sent inside now.
11:35Sent inside.
11:35These people, so that means
11:37these people have been sentenced
11:38for long terms inside, yeah?
11:40Yeah, yeah.
11:40Let's see if we're not going to talk about it.
11:44How many people here are gang members,
11:47would you guess?
11:48More than half of them. More than half. More than 50% of them.
11:54And this is my ranking?
11:56Very high ranking, very high ranking. From the 25s as well as the 27s and 28s.
12:01If you look right across, you will see there's four women standing.
12:04The guys in the corner are looking at us now, yeah?
12:06They are the hierarchy of the 28s. They are the senior partners of the 28s.
12:11You can see them very clearly, the four of them sitting over there are looking at us, yeah?
12:16And there are guys over there on the corner sitting on the steps, yeah?
12:19They're 26.
12:20They're 26, yeah?
12:21It seems Polsmoor is ruled by the number.
12:24To try and stop it spreading, the authorities segregate gang and non-gang prisoners.
12:29It's the end of my first day in Polsmoor, and I'm wondering if I'll ever crack the code of the number.
12:48I'm in South Africa investigating the fearsome prison gang, the Number.
12:55So far, I've confronted a wall of silence.
12:58My guide, senior warder Chris Malhas, has told me that the prison authorities allow the Number gang to run the daily prison duties.
13:06If I can get them talking about that, I may uncover some of their secrets.
13:11Chris? Chris is ready to come in, yeah?
13:14Yes, please.
13:15Stephen, sit down for a while.
13:17So can you explain to me, this is obviously a sale for how many guys?
13:21I can't speak so nice English, I can speak good Afrikaans.
13:26Fourteen guys in the South.
13:27Fourteen guys in the South.
13:28Fourteen guys, yes?
13:29The two of you work specifically with the food.
13:31Yes.
13:32Okay.
13:33You belong to?
13:3428.
13:35You belong to a 28.
13:36So 28 control the food, huh?
13:37Yes.
13:38Has it always been like that?
13:39Yes.
13:40In every prison.
13:41In every prison?
13:42Any prison.
13:43So why don't the 26 control the food, why not?
13:46No, he's having work to do, to clean the place, clean the offices, and when anything, every work to do.
13:52So I would guess the one that does the food has a bit more power than the one that does the cleaning, is that true?
13:57No, it's not a more power.
13:59It's a balance.
14:00It's a balance.
14:01It's only the balance and do it right, in the right way.
14:05All right, this is a...
14:06And can give food for everyone.
14:08And it's done fairly, so a 28 wouldn't get more food than a 26, no?
14:13Fair, doing all...
14:14Fair, straight.
14:15Yes.
14:16How do you feel as 26 if you entrust them to work with the food?
14:21No, we...
14:22We agree with them.
14:24You agree with them?
14:25You show respect to that?
14:26Yes.
14:27It's a system, yeah?
14:28It's an understood system.
14:29Yeah, understood system inside of...
14:31It's obvious to me that survival in Poolsmore depends on belonging to the number.
14:35But in this brotherhood, initiation and promotion are earned by violence.
14:39And for this reason, a prisoner's sentence can get longer and longer.
14:43The 8 of February.
14:44I was sentenced on the 8 of February in 1983 to six years in prison.
14:48To six years?
14:49That was a long time ago.
14:50Six years have passed.
14:51You have problems here then, yeah?
14:52Yeah, and then I assault members, something, stabbed members, so on.
14:56You stabbed prison people?
14:57Prison.
14:58The last member.
14:59So what was the worst, yeah?
15:00I stabbed was Mr. Murray, I and Matthew St. Mongez, and Mr. Murray first know it.
15:03You stabbed him, prison warder, because he was a bad man or because he was told?
15:08No.
15:09It was only just to be high ranking officers in 28.
15:11So you were given an order?
15:12Yes.
15:13To stab a warder, and that moves you up through the rank, yeah?
15:14Where would you stab him?
15:15No.
15:16The first shot I stabbed was in his chest.
15:17You stabbed him in his chest?
15:18The second was in his left hand, and the third shot was behind his back, and then I
15:19chose to come and do the further stabbing, like his neck shot here.
15:22Other shots, one shot only here, a light shot here.
15:24So was the order to kill him or just to hurt him?
15:25The order was to kill him.
15:26Ah.
15:27Why did you come to prison?
15:28Why?
15:29Murder, intent to murder, and the house breaking.
15:30Have you committed any more crimes according to it?
15:31Yes.
15:32Yes.
15:33Yes.
15:34Yes.
15:35Yes.
15:36Yes.
15:37Yes.
15:38Yes.
15:39Yes.
15:40Yes.
15:41Yes.
15:42Yes.
15:43Yes.
15:44Yes.
15:45Yes.
15:46Yes.
15:47Yes.
15:48Yes.
15:49Yes.
15:50Yes.
15:51Yes.
15:52I did mention the crimes according to it.
15:53Yes.
15:54Yes.
15:55Yes.
15:56Yes.
15:57Do you want to elaborate on that?
15:59Yes.
16:00No?
16:01I guess.
16:02The other guys cutting with a knife, and you see?
16:03Rob the people in prison and all this stuff.
16:06One thing that surprised me, because I've been to many prisons around the world, the use
16:09of knives here seems to be far more than in other prisons.
16:14People use fists or they use metal but here knives seem to be the...
16:19He didn't use a phrase, I use a knife, but I use a cup or something like that.
16:24A cup?
16:25Yes.
16:26A cup.
16:27A cup.
16:28It's a cup.
16:29It's a cup.
16:30Yeah, yeah.
16:31It's a cup.
16:32Oh, you turn it into a mate.
16:33Yeah, yeah.
16:34Can you eat him when he's here?
16:35Can I touch?
16:36Can I see?
16:37So, you swing it and...
16:39Yeah, like...
16:40That's the way you eat him.
16:42This side.
16:43This side.
16:44So, you cut.
16:45This side.
16:46So, why?
16:47Why do you do that side?
16:48To make it open.
16:49To make it open.
16:50To make it open.
16:51See how the defense...
16:52One of the best weapons is this.
16:54It's a lock.
16:55On the end of a...
16:56Fuck.
16:57Excuse my language.
16:58Bang him.
16:59Yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:00If you feel the weight in, you can check what it can do to a person's skull.
17:06Sharp.
17:07If you have to lock the bit, because I'm in a cracking skull, you've got to...
17:10But you must not take it long like this.
17:12Sure, because there's less chance of this thing, yeah?
17:15Because if you hit me, I can catch this thing.
17:17I can catch it.
17:18Then I got you.
17:19Can you show me?
17:20I'll...
17:21I must be sure.
17:22Then I catch it like this.
17:25Okay?
17:26If I catch it, then I...
17:27Then I stay up here.
17:28Okay?
17:29So, but how much you keep it?
17:30You must keep it like shorter.
17:32Short taste.
17:33Short taste.
17:36You're very close to the person.
17:38Then you can do it.
17:39Continuously.
17:40Continuously.
17:41Food.
17:42Food.
17:43Food.
17:44Food.
17:45Food.
17:46I've never had access like that in a prison before, never heard people talking like that.
17:50It's totally down to the respect that Chris has, I think, inside this prison.
17:53It seems the prisoners are beginning to trust me and later my instinct is proved right.
17:58Unexpectedly, some of the prisoners decide to show me the numbers secret initiation ritual.
18:04We're the only guys in the cell now, and we're deep in the heart of maximum security.
18:11I don't know what wing we're on, but we're in a cell for 28s and 26s.
18:16You guys, are you going to...
18:17What is...
18:18What is this?
18:19Tell us.
18:20It's a prison rule.
18:21It's a prisoner rule.
18:22So, we're seeing...
18:23We're seeing a ritual for some...
18:2426 or 27...
18:25Look, when you're coming to a cell, eh?
18:27A new one, you're coming to a cell.
18:29You know what?
18:30If we do this stuff, we will be in...
18:32In...
18:33In...
18:34In...
18:35In...
18:36In deep...
18:37Really?
18:38Yes.
18:39If you're going to be in deep shit, you don't do it, alright?
18:40If you don't get it, it's not a joke.
18:41It's not a joke, is it?
18:42You've got that joke.
18:43People get killed here, yes.
18:44So I tell you what?
18:45We can't do a prison.
18:46We ain't gonna do it.
18:47Have some food, yeah?
18:48The junior ranks were afraid to talk without the permission of one man.
18:50He's maimed and murdered his way to the very top of the number.
18:54He's a general in the 28 and his name is John Mongraal.
18:59I know, I have to meet him.
19:02To me, Paulsmoor is like hell on earth.
19:07But Chris has spent a lifetime here amid the violence, and I wonder how he copes.
19:13I always must be aware about safety because you cannot do what I want to do within a not-save environment.
19:21So safety is not about the guns and the battens and the bop wire.
19:26The safety for me is about the dynamic safety, to have a relationship, to gain understanding,
19:31to walk in their shoes, to know what's going up in their head, to know where they come from,
19:36to know what makes them tick, and why are they here?
19:39Why do they make the wrong choice?
19:41Because it's about voices.
19:43There's a lot of voices in our heads, but there's choices.
19:46With waters outnumbered 100 to 1, desperate measures are required to prevent the prison boiling over into anarchy.
19:53Blind eyes have to be turned to the prisoner's few illicit pleasures.
19:57Drugs and porn are rife.
19:59People on Saturday night will look forward to the soft porn.
20:03Yes.
20:03They will take drugs that sexually heighten themselves.
20:07Yes.
20:08And then Sunday, they do drugs to bring them down from the crack or the ecstasy or whatever they've taken.
20:16And they get off watching soft porn, and then they're having sex with other young boys and young men.
20:22Young men.
20:22And sometimes a knife point.
20:26A knife point.
20:28But you accept that as part and parcel of being here.
20:30I don't accept that as part and parcel, but, you know, I don't accept it because then it becomes a norm.
20:37It could never become a norm because that is destroying the life of that person.
20:4225,000 people a month leave South Africa's prisons, but nearly 90% return.
20:54Prison obviously isn't a deterrent.
20:57And I want to know why.
20:58In Polsmo, they have the luxury to have the best medical care, to be in feed, and to sleep on a bed.
21:05Whether it's now in an overpopulated place, whether they need to now share one shower in one toilet.
21:12But, you know, many of them opt to be here because of their essentials.
21:17Being in prison is better than being out in the real world.
21:20How funny it may sound for them is better to be in prison.
21:23You know, they will use the terminology of, we are a family.
21:27They could never be a family because they're not a family.
21:29It's an artificial family, but they feel respected here.
21:33You know, you know, you know, you know, they feel valued here.
21:36You know, amongst them, the 26th and 27th and 28th.
21:38Why are they so strong?
21:40Because they have the perception of caring for one another.
21:43And their perceptions are therefore them real.
21:45And we need to break down their perceptions.
21:47I couldn't believe that the number could have such a powerful hold on its members
21:55and that they'd rather be incarcerated here than be free.
22:01I had to see where these men came from.
22:04What could be worse than Paulsmore?
22:07I find the answer to that question 20 minutes outside of opulent Cape Town.
22:15It's the home to which many of Paulsmore's released prisoners return.
22:19And like Paulsmore, it's ridden with drugs and violent gangs.
22:23This is the Cape Flats, home to some of the South Africa's poorest people.
22:33It's a deprived and disillusioned world.
22:36And consequently, a fertile breeding ground for many of the country's street gangs.
22:45Kevin is a local boss of one such street gang, a group called The Americans.
22:50I go to meet him on his turf.
22:52I just saw a woman hand over some notes for a little...
22:58What would that be?
22:59That would be for drugs.
23:01Yeah, which kind of drug would it be?
23:03Mostly the elderly people are also on tick.
23:08On tick?
23:08I think they think it's a keep-fit drug.
23:12Keep-fit drug?
23:13Yeah, that's why they can clean up.
23:15Yeah, they can clean the house like in seconds and it will be speak and span.
23:22Tick is methamphetamine and I doubt it creates domestic bliss.
23:27Before I travel deeper into Kevin's world, I need to understand the relationship between street gangs on the Cape Flats and the number in Paulsmore.
23:36Andre Standing is one of the leading authorities on South Africa's gang culture.
23:45During apartheid, for a very long period of time, there was no relationship between the numbers and the street gangs.
23:51And the numbers actually forbid it, really.
23:54They're saying, no, no, the numbers only exist in prison.
23:56They don't make any sense outside prison.
23:58Now, this changed quite dramatically in the late or the early 80s when Mandrax, the drug Mandrax, became influential.
24:06Mandrax is very small and one dealer can deal a lot of those and make a lot of money, whereas a dealer in marijuana, you can't really make much money.
24:19So, in the 80s, you've got a few gang leaders and drug merchants making a lot of money.
24:23And these guys have had a major influence on the way street gangs operate.
24:27And when they, crucially, when they got sent to prison in the late 1980s, the prison numbers were suddenly confronted by these super-rich drug merchants.
24:36So, they kind of made a deal with the drug merchants.
24:39They said, what we're going to do is we're going to fast-track you into the high levels without you knowing all the oral history,
24:45without you having to do some of the more gruesome, you know, initiation ceremonies like stabbing people.
24:50We're going to give you a high level.
24:52And in return, we want access to drugs, and when we leave prison, we want access to jobs as well in the drug industry.
24:58And it seems what happened is the drug merchants thought this was a good idea.
25:02They also liked the status of being generals in the 26s or the 28s.
25:07So, they became these very powerful men in prison.
25:09And, crucially, when they came out of prison, they started telling gangs to align themselves to the 26s or the 28s.
25:16It seems the number is evolving and extending its reach beyond the walls of Polsmoor.
25:22I was staggered to learn that there were now 130 street gangs on the Cape Flats,
25:27and that the largest of these is the Americans, with 5,000 members all affiliated to the number.
25:34I caught up again with Kevin, a junior boss with the Americans, a violent ex-convict, and a sergeant with the number.
25:42He invites me to the gang's headquarters, a small shack known as the White House.
25:49The Americans have a fearsome reputation, but I'm relieved to find them relaxed.
25:54In fact, a little too relaxed.
25:56Go, go, go.
26:16How do you want this?
26:19As their drugs kick in, their conversation starts to flow.
26:43But I'm right in assuming that the Americans are the biggest, are they?
26:47Yes.
26:47No, no, I'll put it this way.
26:50I'll go as far as the media, as the media announced it, you know?
26:54By me saying that we are the biggest gang, it could be a lie, you know?
26:59It could be true too.
27:01But according to the media, the media stated the most notorious gang in the Western Cape, the Americans.
27:10And the word notorious, it means that you probably use violence occasionally, yeah?
27:15Yeah, yeah, most definitely, most definitely.
27:18The gang are taking crystal meth and mandrax, a lethal combination of stimulant and depressant, which provokes extreme mood swings and aggression.
27:28So, look out.
27:31Kevin's gang are Cape Colored.
27:33In South Africa, the term colored applies to a separate racial community distinct from blacks and Europeans.
27:39There's a question about being what is known as a Cape Colored.
27:42Would you consider yourself to be called Cape Colored or not?
27:44I grew up in the apartheid area, and we were called Cape Colored.
27:51I grew up with it.
27:53I'm ashamed to be a Cape Colored, you know?
27:57There's one thing that people say, though.
27:59They say that when both the regime was here, when the apartheid regime was here, you were treated like second-class citizens by the government then.
28:07And now the black regime here, the ANC regime, yeah?
28:11It seems to be we're third now.
28:13Really?
28:14Yeah.
28:14We're going a lot of...
28:15Is that a general consensus?
28:16Yeah.
28:17That's how you see it.
28:19You see how you can count how many colored people you find in parliament.
28:22Then you see how many colored...
28:23Then you see how many European people you find in parliament.
28:26And then you see the majority, the African people in parliament.
28:30Who's got the money now in the country?
28:32It's the blacks.
28:34The blacks and the whites.
28:36The colors, they don't see the colors.
28:39Why all the armed robbers, all the murders?
28:43You get affirmative action, you know?
28:46I go to for a job, the black men get the first privilege.
28:51The Cape Colored shared the dream of a new South Africa.
28:54But it seems they've been left at the bottom of the pile.
28:58When we went to school, every one of us had a dream.
29:02You wanted to become something in life, right?
29:05Like me, my wish was...
29:08I wanted to go to sea, to see the world.
29:12What do you think your future holds for you then?
29:14My future?
29:16It depends.
29:18It depends.
29:21I can't predict my future.
29:23I can't predict the future either.
29:26Only witness the present.
29:28But like everything, the present is tied up with the past.
29:32The Cape Flats is a racial dumping ground, a legacy of South Africa's apartheid era.
29:43The community was established here 40 years ago, when colored residents of Cape Town were evicted from their homes in what was known as District 6.
29:52They were relocated beyond the white enclave of Cape Town, to a barren area known as Cape Flats.
29:59Today, 2 million of the Western Cape's poorest people live here.
30:0675% of all violent crime in South Africa involves firearms.
30:11And there are an estimated 10 million unlicensed guns in the country as a whole.
30:15Many of them are here on the flats.
30:17Now, Kevin, local gang leader with the Americans, has kindly agreed to show me a small part of his arsenal.
30:26My goodness.
30:28Such is the lawlessness of the Cape Flats that Kevin has no fear of showing me his guns.
30:34It's also frank about his dealings with the police.
30:36If you eat, yeah, they will leave you.
30:40If you have a hundred, hundred and fifty ran on you, you're free to go.
30:45You tell him, yeah, I've got a gun on me.
30:49And if you give him 150 grand, he'll let you go?
30:51150 grand.
30:54Yeah.
30:55So that's 15 pounds.
30:56Yeah, you go with it.
30:59When you're loading the weapon, you do this alternatively, don't you?
31:05Yeah.
31:05Solid hollow.
31:07Solid hollow.
31:08Bullets with hollow points shatter on impact.
31:11They cause terrible injuries when fired at a person.
31:14As Kevin's friend knows, to his cost.
31:17He's got an example, his leg is shut to tunnels.
31:20It's bullets.
31:22My God, your leg is complete.
31:23Look, what happened?
31:25Shot me.
31:26Oh, it was a hollow point, yeah?
31:27Yeah, only one bullet.
31:29Yeah, yeah?
31:30Yeah, the leg comes out here.
31:31And it came out there and exploded.
31:33Yes.
31:34So they shot you in the leg and where else did they shoot you?
31:36In my bum.
31:37It exploded in my stomach.
31:39Look at that.
31:39Did they...
31:41That was a hollow point, like this?
31:43Yes, I had to sit through here.
31:44You had to ship through the whole thing?
31:46Yes, I can't use the toilet, yes.
31:47Because you couldn't use it, huh?
31:48For a whole year, yeah.
31:50For a whole year, you had a colostomy bag, yeah?
31:52Yeah.
31:52Guns are a part of everyday life for gang members.
31:55They know how to use them and how to avoid prosecution.
31:59When you're putting the round into the magazine, don't you do something with your fingers?
32:06Yeah, we actually put the wooden glue.
32:09You put it onto your fingers.
32:11If you put...
32:12That's what.
32:16But we take a mist, you put it into the palm, you just rub it.
32:21The wooden glue performs like another skin.
32:25So it fills in your fingerprints?
32:27Fingerprints.
32:29So your fingerprint won't be...
32:31On the gun?
32:31On the gun, because mostly if you...
32:35If they catch you with the gun so big, and it's on the ground, you can win the case.
32:42But you won't win the case if your fingerprint is on the gun.
32:47And sold it.
32:49So far, I've seen little evidence of any law on the Cape Flats.
32:52We asked the South African police to appear in this film, but they refused.
32:59I'm in South Africa, where drugs and gang violence rule the Cape Flats.
33:04Kevin is a leader of the Americans and a member of the notorious number.
33:08No one is safe.
33:10Friends, his wife, even his three-year-old child have died by the gun.
33:14Kevin is very close to his sister, Janice.
33:18And I want to know how she copes with his life.
33:21I don't agree with him being part of a gang, but...
33:25He's a different man in the house.
33:28What he does outside is his own doings.
33:31And as I said, I have a son that I'm raising,
33:35and I wouldn't want him to be part of a gang,
33:39but he's my son's uncle.
33:42When you look into Kevin's eyes,
33:44you can see that there's a lot of pain in there.
33:46He does have a lot of pain,
33:49merely because he lost his son.
33:52His son he lost about 13 years ago now.
33:58It's very sad up until this day.
34:00Merely because of the manner that he lost him.
34:06How did he lose?
34:09He...
34:09Kevin came home one evening with a cocked gun.
34:15Illegal, of course.
34:18And his son found it in the morning.
34:21And the gun went off.
34:23And he died, yes, on the way to hospital.
34:27I asked Kevin about his son's death.
34:32It was a gun on the wrong place.
34:36That's why I don't...
34:41It's hard that people made some of the guns.
34:46Some guns doesn't have safety.
34:48Some guns...
34:49He found the gun.
34:50He found the gun, yeah?
34:51Yeah.
34:51They impacted the ground.
34:53He was in my arms when he died.
35:02Despite the life he leads,
35:04Kevin still believes in God.
35:06Do you believe that when you go,
35:09if you should get killed,
35:11do you think that you'll be seeing them again?
35:13Do you hope to see them again?
35:14I'll be living in peace because I'm...
35:18I'm already there to straighten my part for the next life.
35:27There is a...
35:29If God makes a promise,
35:31He won't...
35:32He won't break His promise.
35:35He doesn't break His promise because...
35:37He didn't break His promise but most of His followers.
35:44So that will be...
35:47Even if I don't meet them,
35:52I will be there with Him.
35:56That's...
35:57The best is your family and your relatives.
36:03Even after the loss of those closest to him,
36:12Kevin remains a leader of the Americans
36:14and relies on drugs and religion to fill the void left in his life.
36:21With nothing more to lose,
36:23Kevin is trapped in a vicious circle of gangs and crime.
36:27Street gangs dominate the everyday lives of children on the Cape Flats.
36:41And like Kevin's son,
36:43some of them don't stand a chance.
36:46Talking to kids on the street,
36:48I am saddened by how familiar they are with gang violence.
36:53Do you like the Americans?
36:55No.
36:56No, who do you like?
36:58The Yakis.
36:59The Yakis.
37:00Why do you like the Yakis?
37:02Because they shoot.
37:04They fight.
37:05Yeah.
37:05They gangsters, they shoot people.
37:08They blah, blah, blah.
37:09Do they?
37:10Do you think that's good or do you think that's bad?
37:12It's bad, man.
37:13Bad, yeah?
37:14Do you ever hear gunfire and stuff like that?
37:16Yes.
37:17A lot, huh?
37:18Yes.
37:19I'm beginning to fear
37:21that gangsters are the only role models
37:23for the next generation on the Cape Flats.
37:25Though I felt there had to be another option.
37:30This isn't the latest batch of young offenders.
37:33These boys belong to the Olympia Boxing Club.
37:35In a society this violent,
37:38perhaps it's no surprise that boxing's being used
37:41to keep the kids out of trouble.
37:43I speak to the coach serving police inspector Paul Manuel,
37:47who tells me just getting to his club is trouble enough.
37:50For them to leave their house and actually get you,
37:54they literally have to dodge bullets.
37:55And they've got to pass through different gangsters turf
37:59and that type of thing.
38:00So for them to get you is 80% of the battle when they're ready.
38:04Paul's mission is to teach his boys self-discipline and respect.
38:10These youngsters then go back into the same community
38:15where I found them
38:16and start becoming, you know, role models,
38:18start becoming ambassadors,
38:20but the good role models, the good ambassadors.
38:23Paul's academy gives these kids an alternative to gang life.
38:27Mazzel is one of the club's success stories.
38:30You've never ever become a gang member?
38:33No.
38:35Do you think the boxing's had something to do with that?
38:37A lot, a lot, a lot.
38:39It kept me busy.
38:41It kept me busy the whole time.
38:43And due to my inspiration, I'm Paul Manuel.
38:46It kept me away from being or becoming a gangster.
38:53I've got a lot of time for Paul and the boys,
38:56but I can't help thinking they're fighting a losing battle.
38:59Even if the epidemic of gangs can be cured on the street,
39:03it can still be transmitted from where it thrives,
39:06inside the walls of Pawsmore Prison.
39:14My time in South Africa is running out,
39:16and before I leave, I return to Pawsmore,
39:19the dark heart of the number.
39:22Can I please have identification?
39:24Did you have it?
39:25Okay, you said.
39:26You're a government room.
39:27The general of the 28s, John Mongrel,
39:30has finally granted me an audience.
39:33I find the prison corridors empty.
39:35It's Sunday, and a church service is in full swing.
39:39I saw it!
39:40I can't wait!
39:41I will...
39:44While I wait for the general,
39:46I sit in on a rehabilitation class,
39:49an initiative that encourages prisoners to confront their past.
39:53I've got two kids, two daughters.
39:56One is 17, one is 12.
39:59I don't want they to be raped,
40:02because what I know, how does it feel?
40:05Somebody raped my daughter, I killed him.
40:08But how does it feel for the other person?
40:11I did rape.
40:11How does it feel for the other person?
40:13How does it feel for the family?
40:14How does it feel for the family?
40:14How does it feel for the family?
40:14How does it feel for the family feels?
40:18It's time to meet the general,
40:20the most feared man in Pawsmore,
40:22the highest ranking 28.
40:26His bloody road to top rank of the number began 19 years ago
40:29when he was sent to Pawsmore convicted of murder.
40:33I was 14 years old.
40:36You were 14 years old?
40:3714 years old.
40:38And you came to Pawsmore then?
40:39Came to Pawsmore as a juvenile.
40:42Yeah, and what was your sentence?
40:44I sent him as nine years.
40:47But how come you've been here so long, man?
40:50In the prison, I go to the 28th.
40:53They told me, okay, I gave you a number,
40:58and you must kill a guy in the cell.
41:03And they gave me a knife.
41:06And the other guy came,
41:08and they strangled him.
41:10And I took the knife and stabbed him in his heart.
41:15And two times the blood came out.
41:18Yeah.
41:19And you did that because you were ordered to, yeah?
41:21Yes.
41:23Because you were 28, yeah?
41:24I'm 28, yes.
41:25So the water's frightened of you?
41:27If there is a water,
41:30it's not right.
41:32You're in prison.
41:34I told the 27th,
41:35you what the 27th is,
41:37there's a knife for you.
41:39You must kill the water,
41:42or the major, or the captain.
41:44And the 27th,
41:46they told me,
41:47salute, my brother,
41:49and go.
41:50You can watch.
41:52And then I go to the cell there.
41:55Yeah, and you watch?
41:56And I watch.
41:56So what would happen if the 27th's didn't follow your orders?
42:01I killed them.
42:04We cannot stand for their duty.
42:06Sure.
42:07I killed them.
42:07The general seemed prepared to talk about the number.
42:11So I decide to risk asking him about the initiation rite
42:14his junior ranks have been so afraid to talk of.
42:18If a person comes in the cell,
42:22my duty is to ask him for what he is here
42:25and how long he...
42:29And I told him,
42:31you sleep there.
42:32And if he's not the number,
42:36I have sex with him.
42:38You have sex with him?
42:39I have sex with him.
42:41How do you have sex with him?
42:42You hold him down?
42:43I hold him down.
42:44My face...
42:46Face...
42:47Face him.
42:49You face...
42:50Face him?
42:50Yeah.
42:51Sex.
42:51Sex with him.
42:52You hold him down.
42:53Does someone else help you hold him down,
42:55or you do it on your own?
42:55No.
42:56He's scared for me.
42:58So he has to have sex?
42:59Yeah, then he lay.
42:59The secret rites and brutal code of the number
43:03are becoming clear to me.
43:05Either you fight your way up the ranks,
43:07or become a permanent victim of sexual abuse.
43:11I have sex with a man.
43:1319 years you have sex with a man?
43:14With a man.
43:15Does that make you gay?
43:17No.
43:19Why not?
43:19I'm not a gay.
43:21What are you, then?
43:22A man?
43:22My daughter, a man.
43:24Right, you're the man.
43:25But what about the man that gets fucked?
43:29What's he?
43:30He's a woman.
43:32He's a woman?
43:33Yeah.
43:33A very fair woman.
43:35I tell him, you must wash my clothes.
43:39He do it.
43:40I give him bread, food.
43:43I give him a bag.
43:46And I wash them, he's all right.
43:48So do you have a lady in here now,
43:50a lady boy in here now?
43:51I have one.
43:52How long have you been with that one?
43:54Three weeks.
43:56Three weeks.
43:56Do you change regularly, yeah?
43:57Yeah, I change, yes.
43:58You just walk up to them and you go,
44:02you will be my wife?
44:03Yes.
44:03She comes to sleep by me, by my bed.
44:06If they don't do that, what happened?
44:07Kill them.
44:08So, John Mongrel, interesting man.
44:23John Mongrel is one of the most sadistic men I've ever met.
44:26But I feel it's important to remind myself that he's a result of the problem and not its cause.
44:33South Africa is such a breathtaking place.
44:37It sort of feels wrong to say that I'm disappointed.
44:39But I am.
44:42It's 16 years since Nelson Mandela was released from prison.
44:46And while many things have changed, so many things have stayed the same.
44:50One elite has been replaced by another elite.
44:53Privilege and segregation still exist.
44:55The gap between the haves and the have-nots is vast.
44:58And gang violence is an everyday occurrence.
45:01It may be 16 years since the end of apartheid.
45:03But I believe the struggle for South Africa has only just begun.
45:33So, you know, there are no sisters in the United States to destroy their own destiny.
45:35So, you know, it's a life, a life, a life, a life, a life.
45:36There's a living in the world.
45:37And I believe in the world of the world of things have changed.
45:40So, you know the history is anichtenster, a life, a life, a life, a life.
45:45And when you're still alive, you're still alive.
45:49So, I'll be fine.
45:51You know, it's a life.
45:55So, you know, I won't go down a while.
45:57It's a life.